Abstract

Background

There is considerable evidence showing that injured people who are involved in a compensation
process show poorer physical and mental recovery than those with similar injuries
who are not involved in a compensation process. One explanation for this reduced recovery
is that the legal process and the associated retraumatization are very stressful for
the claimant. The aim of this study was to empower injured claimants in order to facilitate
recovery.

Methods

Participants were recruited by three Dutch claims settlement offices. The participants
had all been injured in a traffic crash and were involved in a compensation process.
The study design was a randomized controlled trial. An intervention website was developed
with (1) information about the compensation process, and (2) an evidence-based, therapist-assisted
problem-solving course. The control website contained a few links to already existing
websites. Outcome measures were empowerment, self-efficacy, health status (including
depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms), perceived fairness, ability to work, claims
knowledge and extent of burden. The outcomes were self-reported through online questionnaires
and were measured four times: at baseline, and at 3, 6, and 12 months.

Results

In total, 176 participants completed the baseline questionnaire after which they were
randomized into either the intervention group (n = 88) or the control group (n = 88).
During the study, 35 participants (20%) dropped out. The intervention website was
used by 55 participants (63%). The health outcomes of the intervention group were
no different to those of the control group. However, the intervention group considered
the received compensation to be fairer (P <0.01). The subgroup analysis of intervention users versus nonusers did not reveal
significant results. The intervention website was evaluated positively.

Conclusions

Although the web-based intervention was not used enough to improve the health of injured
claimants in compensation processes, it increased the perceived fairness of the compensation
amount.